Harrogate, TN - Following a win over Lees-McRae on Dec. 30, the Lincoln Memorial men's basketball team opened the 2024 calander year with a statement win over rival Carson-Newman at home on Wednesday night, 83-64. Prior to the game, the Eagles were averaging 93.9 points-per-game, and were outscoring their opposition by an average of 15.9 points-per-game. Carson-Newman also bolstered the South Atlantic Conference's leading scorer and leading three point field goal shooter, John Zhao. Lincoln Memorial held Carson-Newman to a season-low 64 points, and limited Zhao to 11 points on just 1-of-5 shooting from long range.

The Railsplitters opened the game full throttle, jumping out to a 10-2 lead early on. The Eagles battled back to take their only lead of the game at 16-15 before Lincoln Memorial began to pour it on. Leading 22-16, Martez Brown drove to the cup on a bounce pass from Chase Rankin, and emphatically flushed a dunk over two defenders, igniting the home crowd. Moments later, leading 29-20, Me'Kell Burries decided to get in on the rim action, driving the baseline and flushing a powerful dunk over a defender. The Eagles had seen enough and called a timeout in an effort to circumvent the continued build up of momentum by Lincoln Memorial. However, the Railsplitters continued to pile on the points. To finish the first half, freshman Wes Enis made his presence felt, connecting on three straight three pointers, including a 35-foot buzzer beater at the half, to give Lincoln Memorial a 54-41 advantage at the break.

The Eagles began to chip away at the start of the second half, drawing back to within single digits at 60-52 with just over 14:00 remaining in the game. It was the last time the game would be that close. The Railsplitters were seemingly unstoppable from all three levels of the floor on offense, and were an absolute force on the defensive end, stifling any opportunity that Carson-Newman had to find an offensive rhythm. Leading 62-52 with 13:30 left, Lincoln Memorial went on to outscore Carson-Newman 21-12 to take an 83-64 victory over its conference rival and improve to 9-4 on the season with a 3-1 mark in conference play.

The Railsplitters limited the Eagles to just 28.57% from the floor in the second half, including a 9.09% mark from long range. Carson-Newman posted a 36% mark from the floor for the whole game, with a 29% mark from deep. Lincoln Memorial shot a blistering 66% from the floor in the first half with a remarkable 75% clip from long range, connecting on 9-of-12 attempts in the first half. For the game, the Railsplitters connected on 49% of all their shots, with a 52% mark from deep.

Lincoln Memorial had an extremely well-balanced scoring attack against Carson-Newman. Me'Kell Burries and Jordan Walters led scoring with 18 points each. Walters added six assists and five rebounds as well. Burries connected on 4-of-6 three point attempts, and 7-of-11 attempts from the floor through the game. Chase Rankin tallied 17 points while handing out six assists. Wes Enis added 15 points off the bench in 28 minutes. Although Carson-Newman outrebounded Lincoln Memorial 39-37, Martez Brown absolutely dominated the glass, setting a new career-high in rebounds with 21. He added eight points as well, narrowly missing his eighth double-double of the season. Matthew Sells added seven points to round out scoring for Lincoln Memorial.

With the victory, the Railsplitters moved to 9-4 on the season with a 3-1 mark in conference play. They will be back in action on Saturday on the road at Coker.